The fact that Manchester City are even thinking of sacking Sven-Goran Eriksson is completely absurd. The former England boss has done a fantastic job under the circumstances and is guaranteed a top ten finish during his first season of club management in the Premier League.

Man City should take a leaf out of their nearest rival's book. Keeping faith with the same manager does pay off. Alex Ferguson didn't have the best start to his career at United, but look at him now. Not that it helped him against Sven this season though. The blue side of Manchester have emerged victorious both times the sides have met this season and what does Sven get in return - a sacking?

City's problems are probably based around their fantastic start to the season. They were in the top four and heading for a Champions League place before Christmas and it now seems that their 'dramatic' slide to a very respectable 9th in the table could cost the Swede his job. That I guess is one of the down sides to having a foreign owner - they expect far too much, far too quickly.

What did he expect City to do this season? No-one is going to break the the top four up and then it's the ever improving teams of Everton and Aston Villa - who have, by the way, taken time to produce the consistency that is seeing them head for Europe this season. With David Moyes another excellent example that faith in your manager does pay off.

I guess you could argue that City could be finishing above Portsmouth and Blackburn, but two places in the league can't be enough to cost someone their job. Maybe it was a cup that Shinawatra wanted this season, who knows. One thing that does seem clear is that there will be a lot of disapproval amongst the Manchester City fans if Sven is asked to move on. They were uncertain of his appointment to begin with, but after playing some fantastic football in the first few months of the season and defeating their local rivals twice - he has won them over.

Sacking him now would be like going back to square one. Under Keegan and Pearce, Man City were constantly fighting relegation from the Premier League. Now they have someone who can help them push for Europe every year and help attract some quality players to the Eastlands.

The way of the Premier League now, seems to be that unless you are Alex Ferguson or Arsene Wenger - your job is under threat. Mr Benitez, Mr Grant and Mr Curbishley will vouch for that. I think it was Harry Redknapp that said recently - "anyone outside the 'big four' that finishes in the top ten has had a fantastic season." Maybe for the sake of Manchester City's future, the Portsmouth boss should have a word in Mr Shinawatra's ear.